Top 10 Vermont Sports Stories of 2013

Dec. 31, 2013

A look back at the 2013's top sports stories, as compiled by the Burlington Free Press sports department.

Written by

Free Press Staff

Milestones, thrilling finishes, UVM heartbreak and team dominance highlighted the year that was in Vermont sports. From Missisquoi basketball star Matt St. Amour surpassing 2,000 career points to UVM basketball and skiing falling short in quests for respective titles to CVU girls soccer and Mount Anthony wrestling flashing their brilliance, 2013 presented plenty of memories for Vermont fans.

Other top-10 stories as picked by the Burlington Free Press sports department — the newspaper’s annual end-of-year list — include Mikaela Shiffrin’s breakout year, Konnor Fleming’s catch at “Little Fenway” that went viral, Evan Russell’s summer to remember, CVU outlasting Essex in the longest Division I baseball final in tournament history and North Country Union alum Steve Clifford snatching an NBA head-coaching gig, a first for a Vermonter.

Without ranking, whittling the list down to just 10 stories, plus another 10 of honorable mentions, was no easy task. But here’s our crack at it.

Mikaela Shiffrin's breakout year

Before she earned her diploma at Burke Mountain Academy last year, Mikaela Shiffrin announced her arrival as a world-class talent. In February, Shiffrin became the youngest woman in 39 years to win the slalom world championship in Schladming, Austria. At the age of 17 years, 340 days, she was the third-youngest ever to do so. But the teenager, who grew up in Colorado before moving to New Hampshire and attending Burke, wasn’t done. In March, Shiffrin became the first American World Cup slalom champion since 1984, erasing a 1.17-second deficit on her final run for the come-from-behind win in her first full season on the international circuit.

CVU tops Essex in baseball classic

It took a seventh-inning rally, a bit of small-ball and a sophomore tossing six no-hit innings of relief for Champlain Valley to outlast Essex in a baseball classic at Centennial Field in June. Just before the stroke of midnight, the Redhawks closed out Essex in a 4-3, 11th-inning victory for a repeat title in the longest Division I final in tournament history. “It’s one for the record books. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life,” CVU catcher Kirk Fontana said. In the final, CVU’s Deagan Poland kickstarted the two-run rally in the seventh inning with a leadoff bunt. Rayne Supple, earned the win in a no-hit performance.

(Page 2 of 5)

CVU's untouchable soccer season

A dose of trivia from 2013: Who scored against the Champlain Valley Union High School girls soccer team? After 18 games, that list of players started and ended with one name: North Country’s Chelsea Bianchi. On a penalty kick. The rest of the season, the Redhawks were untouchable, unbeatable, on another level, going 18-0, scoring 72 goals and yielding just the one. It was more than good enough to sew up CVU’s third straight state title. And the Redhawks had one last task: Finding a suitable resting place — a stately rocking chair, perhaps? — for the now-retired championship trophy in the Hinesburg trophy case.

'Little Fenway' catch goes viral

A catch at a local charity wiffle ball tournament gained national attention thanks a video that went viral. Konnor Fleming, a former CVU multi-sport standout, hauled in a leaping catch and collided with the wall at Little Fenway in Essex, home of the Travis Roy Foundation Wiffle Ball Tournament. The event raises money and awareness for spinal cord research. The Pack Network posted a short clip of Fleming’s catch to the foundation’s YouTube page, which caught the attention of ESPN, landing on SportsCenter’s nightly top 10 list at No. 2. Fleming went through several rounds of media interviews with national outlets and a record $502,150 was raised.

St. Amour hits 2K

More than 1,000 spectators jammed into Missisquoi’s gym — appropriately nicknamed ‘Thunderdome’ — on a February night to witness history: Their own Matt St. Amour was about to score 2,000 career points, a milestone only five other Vermont boys basketball players had reached. “I felt like people were coming to see him and what a sign of support,” said St. Amour’s mother, Dena. “ The gym was so packed — this gym is never like this for a basketball game. This is really his home.” St. Amour didn’t disappoint: He dropped in 33 points — he needed 22 — against unbeaten Vergennes to surge past 2K.

UVM ski team falters at NCAAs

The University of Vermont’s lead had swelled to 54 points entering the final day of the NCAA skiing championships in Ripton. But it wasn’t enough to usher the defending-champion Catamounts to a seventh national title as they fell off the pace to finish third behind Colorado (708 points) and Utah (665). The perennial powerhouse Buffaloes owned the women’s 10K with a 1-2 finish producing a 70-point swing. Colorado padded the lead in the four-day event’s final race, the men’s 20K freestyle, to clinch the comeback on a warm, 40-degree March day that led to drastic changes in course conditions.

(Page 3 of 5)

MAU wrestling's run hits 25 years

Twenty-six years ago, Essex won the Vermont high school wrestling championships for the second year in a row. Last February, Mount Anthony cemented its quarter-century of dominance since then by extending its own national record with a 25th consecutive state championship. The Patriots, with finalists in 13 of 14 weight classes, produced eight champions as they piled up 324 points — 217 more than runner-up St. Johnsbury. And a week later the Patriots went on to win their seventh New England crown, the first since 2004. Senior Miguel Calixto took the title at 132 pounds to finish the year 60-0. Junior Jesse Webb became the first Vermont heavyweight to snag a regional crown as well with a 53-0 mark on the season.

Clifford hired as coach of Bobcats

Years studying the coaching work of his father at North Country High School paid off this year for Steve Clifford, who was hired as the sixth head coach of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats in May. Clifford grew up in Derby Line and was a standout point guard for the Falcons in the late 1970s. He went on to coach at Adelphi University before making the jump to the NBA, first as a scout, then assistant coach and finally head coach. He has helped steer the Bobcats to marked improvement — Charlotte carried a 14-18 record into the new year, compared to an 8-23 mark last season that included an 18-game losing streak.

Russell has summer to remember

From its inception in 1926 until 2013, the New England Amateur Championship could call a Vermont golfer champion just twice. In July, former Essex High School standout Evan Russell added his name to his list as the third, part of a brilliant summer that included a wire-to-wire victory at the Vermont Amateur and an appearance in the U.S. Amateur. And all of it happened in the span of a month. The University of Hartford sophomore surged to the New England lead with a second-round 66 at Green Mountain National Golf Course in Killington. He clinched the trophy and a one-stroke victory with a 3-footer for par on the 72nd hole. Three weeks later, he earned a convincing, four-shot win at the Country Club of Barre for his first Vermont Amateur — and rubber-stamping 2013 as the Summer of Evan.

(Page 4 of 5)

UVM basketball falls to Albany

On the doorstep of a second straight NCAA tournament appearance, the University of Vermont men’s basketball team couldn’t shake longtime league nemesis Albany. For the fourth time since 2006 and third in the America East Conference championship, the Great Danes ended the Catamounts’ season. UVM, a year removed an NCAA tournament win over Lamar, wasted a 10-0 lead in the early minutes and then had to rally before Jacob Iati’s clutch 3-pointers drained the Catamounts’ title hopes. “We couldn’t get the string of stops together we needed, but we never had anyone make any shots for us,” UVM coach John Becker said. “In these games someone has to step up and make some shots.” UVM also lost a heartbreaker at Duke 91-90 in November.

10 more stories (Honorable Mention)

• Cyclist Amy Dombroski dies in training accident: The 26-year-old Jericho native, a three-time national cyclocross champion, was hit by a truck during a motor-pacing workout in Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium, and died on Oct. 3

• Middlebury College reaches Final Four in women’s soccer: The Panthers secured their first berth in the Division III national semifinals with a dramatic 1-0 win in the final minute at home against Johns Hopkins before falling 2-1 to Trinity (Texas) at the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.

• Robert Hamlin takes second at NCAAs: As a senior at Lehigh, the Mount Mansfield Union High School product finished runner-up at 184 pounds at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships for the second time to wrap up a collegiate career that included three All-American nods and a 107-24 record.

• Division III football final ends in controversy: Woodstock Union High School prevailed 20-19 against Mill River, but not without a protest and subsequent appeal to the Vermont Principals’ Association from Mill River after video evidence showed what looked like a Woodstock runner fumbling a third-down carry into the end zone in overtime.

• Castleton State shoplifters: After opening the 2013 season with a comeback win at Plymouth State, the Castleton football team finished with 10 straight losses after several top players were implicated and suspended from the team for allegedly stealing from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Rutland.

(Page 5 of 5)

• Hartford’s football streak ends: The Hurricanes’ unprecedented run of three straight Division I crowns, 27-game win streak, and bid for a fourth title in a row all met their end in Middlebury against the unbeaten Tigers, who went on to claim the state title for themselves.

• Rice knocks off St. Johnsbury for boys basketball title: Unable to topple St. Johnsbury in two highly anticipated regular-season matchups, Rice outlasted the Hilltoppers in a tense, 48-40 overtime victory. SJA’s star, Vlad Cobzaru, was hobbled by an ankle injury, but the Green Knights reached down at the game’s critical moments to snatch their fourth Division I crown in seven seasons under coach Paul Pecor.

• David Ro completes unmatched tennis run: Essex’s David Ro captured his fourth straight individual boys tennis crown in May to set a Vermont record. Ro never dropped a set in his high school career.

• Vermont City Marathon turns 25: Heidi Westover, the women’s course record-holder, raced to her sixth win overall and Alicia Dana became the first woman to win the handcycle division as the Vermont City Marathon celebrated its 25th running of one of the nation’s premier second-tier marathons. Just 525 runners competed at the first VCM in 1989; compared to more than 8,000 marathoners and relay members this past May.

• Vermont natives take shot at NFL: David Ball earned a preseason invitation from his former college offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the Eagles’ first-year coach. Jason Foster fought for an offensive lineman spot with the Raiders. Both failed to make the active roster — Ball went back to coaching and teaching at Spaulding while Foster has settled with Tampa Bay’s practice squad.